GALLACHER is entering the most important spell of his career with the Scottish Open and Open Championship in the middle of a five-tournament stretch which could determine his Ryder Cup fate.

SCOTLAND’S Stephen Gallacher insists teeing up in today’s French Open will start the most important six-week period of his career.

Gallacher heads into a crucial five-tournament run which includes next week’s Scottish Open and The Open the following week.

He will then head into his last two events in the US this season, the Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship.

And at the end of the crunch five biggest tournaments of his life, Gallacher hopes his efforts will have earned him a first Ryder Cup cap.

He said: “I have five massive tournaments to compete in, including next week’s Scottish Open which is like a Major for all the Scottish guys.

“So in many ways I am staring at three Majors including The Open and the PGA Championship and there’s a WGC event with the Bridgestone Invitational.

“I have been working as hard as I can to peak for these five events over the next six weeks.

“I know if I play well there’s that other event in Scotland in late September so that’s still a very big goal of mine.

“There is an expectation on me to do well over this period and I don’t think I’ve had a
more important run of events in my whole career.

“Going to Royal Aberdeen next week and back to Aberdeen where I used to live for a couple of years, I know there’s going to be expectations to do well on home soil. But I’ve been playing the Scottish Open for 18 years so I should know how to handle the week and use the support from everyone next week to my advantage.

“So the five, including this week’s French Open, are five of the best tournaments you could play and I just want to go out and enjoy them.”

Gallacher is currently 12th overall on the European Ryder Cup points table.

But many believe that the Scot, who lives closer to Gleneagles than any other player among the top 30 on the points list, will not be a member of Paul McGinley’s side unless he breaks into the top nine automatic qualifiers.

But foremost in Gallacher’s mind is a strong showing at this week’s 2018 Ryder Cup host venue where he will lead out a field featuring 10 Scots.

There is an added bonus at the French Open in Versailles of three entries into The Open for the leading players, who are not already exempt, who finish this week inside the top 10.

Tuesday’s local final qualifying at Glasgow Gailes saw the number of Scots through to The Open double with Marc Warren, Jamie McLeary and Paul McKechnie now joining Gallacher and former Open winners Sandy Lyle and Paul Lawrie.

Gallacher said: “It’s brilliant to have three more Scots in The Open and there are chances to boost that number further.

“Competing in Versailles is going to help as it’s like competing on three links courses in a row.”